Grain-car door



T. GIBSON.

GRAIN CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20.1918.

Pitented Apr. 5,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- 'rnnonoan emson, or TULSA,- OKLAHOMA.

GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

Specification of Letters I atent.

Patented Apr.'5, 1921.

Application filed July 20, 1918. Serial No. 245,923.

.This inventionrelates to doors forgrain cars and has for its object the provision of adoor for closing the door opening 1n a grain car and comprising a plurality of separately movable sections disposed for vertical sliding movement within track ways disposed at the sides of the door opening and extending upwardl and along the roof of the car whereby the sections may be disposed selectively to close the opening or to be disposed within the portion of the track way at the roof of the car.

of a door of this character having spring pressed members within the lower portions of the track ways engaging the door sections when in their operative position whereby the door sections will be held .firmly against displacement.

Another object is the provision of a door of this character in which the channeled track ways communicate with casings disposed at the sides of the door 0 ening, these casings serving as inclosures or the door section engaging. members and the leaf springs which urge these members into en- B "gagement with the door sections.

Another object is the'provision of a door of this character provided with means whereby the sections may be locked in raised or lowered positions and having lever operated release and holdin means whereby onesection at a time may he lowered while the next succeeding section is held against movement. a

A further object is the provision of a door structure of this character which will-be ex tremely simple and inexpensive in manufacture, easily installed and operated, highly efficient and durable in service and a general improvement of the art.

With the above .and other objects and. ad-

vantages in view, the invention consists in' the details of construction to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which very important object'is the provision Figur l is a side elevation of a portion of agrain car showing my door in position thereon and in closed position.

. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View on the line of Fig. 1 showing the door sections in their inoperative positions by dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the hue 44 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. '5 is a detail elevation of one end of one of the door sections and Flg. 6 is an enlar ed detail sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1. Referring more particularly to the drawlngsthe letter A designates a grain car provided with the usual door openlng The jambs at thesides of the door opening are indicated by the a portion of the roof is designated by the letter D.

carrying out my invention I provide a cess defined by the walls 13,14 and 15 and 18 further provided with a longitudinally extend ng flange 16 for a purpose to be deportion of a letters C and outer sides of the lower portions of the scribed. At each side ofthe door opening and communicating with the upper end of the associated casinglO is a track way 17 formed conveniently of a channel bar which is curved as shown at 18 to extend inwardly of thecar for-engagement against the roof D. I A plurality of door sections 19 are mounted for sliding movement between the uides formed by the casings 10 and the tree ways Each door section 19 is formed preferably from a wooden plank 20 and has one longitudinal edge provided with a reinforcing metallic shield member 21 having at its center an outwardly projecting tongue 22. The opposite longitudinal edge of each door section is provided with a similarreinforcing shield 23 having its central portion provided with a groove 24. When the door sect1ons'19 are properly assembled between the guide members they are so disposed that. the tongue 22 on one section will engage the groove 24 on the next section. Each door section is further provided at each end with metallic wear plates flush with the side edges of the shields 21 and 23 and suitably bolted upon the planks 20.

I further provide within each of the easing members 10 a longitudinally extending presser bar 26 formed preferably U-shaped in cross section and having its side flanges disposed between the wall 14 and the flange 16 of the casing. The upper end of the presser bar 26 terminates short of the upper end of the casing 10 and has its upper end curved as shown at 27. A leaf spring 28 is disposed within each casing and extends longitudinally thereof between the presser 26 and the wall 15 of the casing. The upper end of each spring 28 is secured to the presser bar 26 by a bolt 29 and the lower end is secured to the wall 15 of the casing by means of a bolt 30 passing through a longitudinal slot 31 in the lower end of the spring. It will thus be seen that the presser bar'26 is resiliently urged toward the wall .13 of the casing.

When the door sections 19 are properly assembled in respect to the guide and are disposed in position to close the opening B, they will be disposed between the presser bars 26 and the walls 13 of the recesses in the casing 10, with their longitudinal edges in engagement with one another. It will be seen that when the door sections are thus arranged the tongues and grooves 22 and 24 respectively on the different sections will be in engagement with one another whereby a tight closure for the opening B will be provided. The pressure of the springs 28 against the presser bars 26 will urge these presser bars 26 into firm engagement with the ends of the door sections 19 so that the top door section will be held firmly against the wall 13 of each casing 10 so as to form a tight joint.

When it is desired to remove the door sections from their obstructing positions in respect to the opening B, it is merely necessary to lift them one by one and slide them upwardly within the casings 10 and the channel bars 17 past the curved portions 18 and into the portions of the channel bars disposed beneath the roof of the car. This position is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawing. Suitable catches 32 are disposed upon the inner sides of the channel bars 17 adjacent their bent portions 18 for engaging the lower edge of the lowermost door section 19 whereby thesections will be held in their elevated positions. The catches 32 have pivotally connected therewith link members 33 which are in turn. connected with crank arms 34 carried by a rod 35 extending transversely of the door opening and provided with a handle 36 and a pointed lateral extension 37. WVhen the sections are in their elevated position and the operator desires to lower them, he grasps the handle 36 and rocks the shaft or rod 35. This movement causes the pointed extension 37 to engage the section next to the lowermost one and hold it against movement, while at the same time the catches 32 are released, allowing the lowermost section to drop into position. This movement of the handle is con tinued until all the sections are lowered. \Vhen the catches 32 are released and the door sections allowed to descend through the guides the curved portions 27 of the upper ends of the presser bars 26 will permit the door sections to enter between the walls 13 of the casings and the presser bars. The

provision of the plates 25 upon the ends of the door sections serves to prevent undue wear upon the door sections during their sliding movement.

In order that the sections may be locked in their closed or lowered positions, I provide upon the side of the car adjacent the housings 10, segmental racks 38 engageable by levers 39 pivoted at 40 upon and extending into the housings 10. When the sections are in lowered position, the levers are swung- Having thus described the invention wha I claim is 1. A door for grain cars comprising a casing disposed at each side of the door opening, the opposing faces'of said casings being open and provided with overhanging flanges. guide rails extending from the upper ends of said casings, a plurality of door sections slidable through said guide rails and adapted to be disposed with their ends in said casings, a vertically extending channel bar disposed within each casing in position to bear against said door sections, the

upper ends of saidchannel bars terminating short of the ends of said guide members and being curved outwardly whereby to provide flaring entrance openings for properly guiding the door sections into the space between said channel bars and the opposite walls of said casings, and a leaf spring disposed within each casing and having its lower end secured to the outer wall thereof and its upper end secured to said channel bar whereby to urge the upper ends of the channel bars into close engagement with the uppermost of said door sections.

2,. A grain car door comprising guides secured upon opposite sides of the doorway in a grain car, a door structure slidably mounted Within said guides, and means for locking said door structure in its locked position comprising a lever pivoted upon each guide and having a nose portion extending through a vertical slot in the guide and engageable with the top edge of the door structure, and a segment secured upon the car wall adjacent each guide in position to be moved over by said lever, said segment having its outer face provided with ratchet lugs selectively engageable by the lever.

3. A grain car door comprising a pair of guide members disposed at the sides of the door opening and curved to extend adjacent the root of the car, a plurality of door sections slidable within said guide members, pivoted catch member's associated with said guide members and having projections extending thereinto for engagement by the lower edge of a door section for holding a selected .door section in elevated position a rock shaft journaled transversely of said door ,opening, crank arms carried ,by said rock shaft, links connected with said crank arms and said pivoted catch members, a lateral extension on said rock shaft terminating in a prong engageable with the door sections, and a handle on said rock shaft whereby said shaft may be partially rotated whereby said pivoted catch members will be retracted to permit the descent of a door section engaged thereby, said prong engaging the next adjacent door section for holding the same against movement.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

THEODORE GIBSON. 

